Downtown Leo Hotel Reopens

Thirty-eight hotel rooms have been made available for downtown's homeless with the reopening of the Leo Hotel, 531 S. San Julian St.

The Leo, which underwent an $880,000 remodeling, is part of a chain of 11 downtown hotels with a total of 1,052 rooms owned by the nonprofit SRO Corp. of Los Angeles. Seven of the 11 hotels are in operation, with the remainder being remodeled.

Negotiations are being conducted for the purchase of two other hotels, according to Andy Raubeson, SRO executive director.

Raubeson said the hotels serve men, women and couples, with rents ranging from $158 to $194 a month, depending on income. "We do not serve families because we feel that this is the not right environment for children," he said.

The Tanzmann Associates, Los Angeles, designed the remodeling and Clark-Porche Construction Co. Inc., South El Monte, was contractor.